Here’s Everything There Is To Know About The Allegations That Taylor Swift’s Dad, Scott Swift, Hit A Photographer In The Face
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Taylor Swift completed the Australian leg of her Eras world tour on Monday with her fourth and final show in Sydney.
However, Taylor’s experience Down Under has come to a bit of a dramatic end, with her father, Scott Swift, being accused of assaulting a paparazzo early Tuesday morning.
Longtime Swifties will be aware that Scott attends every one of Taylor’s concerts, traveling the globe with his daughter and her mom, Andrea Swift.
Scott can normally be found in the VIP tent of Taylor’s Eras shows, and often walks around the crowd to give excited fans Taylor Swift guitar picks.
However, things took a turn in the early hours of Tuesday morning local time, with photographer Ben McDonald accusing Scott of striking him in the face on a Sydney wharf after Taylor’s concert.
The alleged altercation is said to have occurred as Scott and Taylor disembarked a yacht at Neutral Bay Wharf and made their way into a waiting car alongside their security team.
According to Ben, Taylor was already inside the car when Scott allegedly “charged in” and attacked him. Ben did not require medical attention after the incident.
"I've been doing this for 23 years and I haven't been in a situation where someone's hit me in the chops," he added to the BBC, insisting that he hadn’t provoked the alleged attack.
New South Wales Police have confirmed that Ben reported the incident and “inquiries are now underway by officers attached to North Shore Police Area Command.”
A spokesperson for Taylor did not comment on the assault claims, but did issue a statement that reads: “Two individuals were aggressively pushing their way towards Taylor, grabbing at her security personnel, and threatening to throw a female staff member into the water."
However, Ben has refuted this claim — saying that there were no women present aside from Taylor at the time. He told the Daily Mail Australia: “This is the sort of bullshit I might expect. Which female was that? The only one there was Taylor.”
In footage captured before the alleged incident, Taylor can be seen holding Scott’s hand as she walks to her car with an umbrella over her head. Members of her security team also use large umbrellas to block the paparazzi cameras.
Somebody else can be seen walking beside Taylor while holding the torch from their cellphone up at the waiting cameras — presumably to distort any photos that are taken.
Taylor left the Crown Hotel in Barangaroo just before 11 a.m. local time on Tuesday before departing Australia in her private jet.
Her next concert will be in Singapore on Saturday, with the star scheduled to perform a total of six shows at Singapore National Stadium.
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